JUPITER FUNGUS

Jupiter Fungus biography
Jupiter Fungus is a progressive rock studio project featuring two musicians from Piraeus, Greece, which began in 2012, and consists of Ares Papatriantafillou on keyboards & vocals and Fotis Xenikoudakis on flute. Following the breakup of the local stoner rock band 'Father Sun', to which they had both belonged, they spent several years playing with other bands in the local stoner rock scene before they decided it was time for a change. Fotis Xenikoudakis had previously played with 'The Telestons', a surf/psychedelic rock band also from the Piraeus area of Greece, so was already used to undergoing changes in his musical direction.

Their 'Jupiter Fungus' project was set up to pay homage to the legendary bands associated with the progressive and classic rock scene of the 1970s - such as Jethro Tull, Focus, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple etc. - and although essentially just a duo, selected studio musicians were also recruited to enable them to create their debut album 'Garden Electric'. With the liberal use of a variety of keyboards and flute, augmented by some powerful guitars and a solid drum and bass foundation, the four-track album of just under 50 minutes is brimming with vibrant arrangements and unexpected shifts.

The journey was not all plain sailing, however. The search for the right calibre of musicians to accompany the duo was difficult enough to begin with, but when you add to that the other setbacks that befell them along the way, such as the theft of their studio, it did seem at one point that the project was destined for eventual failure. However, the duo eventually managed to overcome the obstacles in front of them, and with the help of George Emmanuel (ex-Rotting Christ, Lucifer's Child) on guitar and mixing duties (at his Pentagram Studio), Nick Vell (Chaostar, Kinoskop, Lucifer's Child) on drums, and George Papageorgiou on bass, acoustic guitar and glockenspiel, they eventually managed to fulfill their aspirations and complete the album.

'Garden Electric' was released on limited gatefold vinyl, CD, and also digitally, by Sound Effect Records on November 1, 2024.